Jonas holds up a mirror

George Jonas placed the Chi-Com's efforts to curb Google and censure the internet side by side with Canada's Jennifer Lynch and her efforts to do the same. Result: the Chi-Com's sound eerily similar to the Canadian Human Rights Commission chief.

"It is an operational norm [for foreign businesses]," offers the Chinese editorial, "to respect and comply with laws and regulations as well as public interests and the cultural tradition of the host country."

And Ms. Lynch:

"Ensure that informed discussion takes place," she instructs her troops, "and the manner in which it takes place is respectful of our human rights system."

Wow.

Jay Currie on the money.

As political commenters go, Jay Currie has been a lone voice of reason crying out in the wilderness of the established "scientific" consensus opinion on Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW). Of particular importance were his efforts to look past the appeals to sympathy over drowning polar bears and other such nonsense. The Hadley CRU document dump and subsequent revelations on the IPCC 2007 predictions on Himalayan glacier loss have demonstrated that Mr. Currie's analysis and gut instincts were correct. After years of being beaten over the head with so-called peer reviewed studies, the claims of eminent catastrophic warming were shown to be wholly without merit. As the degree of deception became apparent, the striking turnaround in position of moral superiority in the argument was astounding.
It was the completest thing.

Jay's latest post on the topic is an excellent summary.

Oregonians giddy over their killing of the Golden Goose

Oregonian's took a big step backwards last Tuesday, affirming that the State legislative body need not be fiscally responsible.



In passing special Measures 66 and 67, Oregonians chose to turn their back on the basic principle of equal treatment under the law. They also chose to further cripple Oregon small businesses by increasing their tax burden as well. This was done with much cheering and celebrating amongst Oregon's state employees, thrilled with the projected new found revenues that would alleviate revenue short falls and budgetary non-funding. In their rather myopic view, more taxes means more money for state spending, and more money for state spending means more money for them. Yippey...Yappey...Yahooey!

The economic reality, however, will soon be shown to be quite different. The further fleecing of the private sector will be a negative pressure on the economy, encouraging some to leave the state, others not to enter it and still more to curtail their industry. Thus, a state with over 11% unemployment will surely experience more of the same.

The new changes will further dispossess the private citizenry in favor of the government, discourage small businesses and further depress the economy, causing further 'unexpected' shortfalls. The ultimate result will be the further reduction of state revenues. A shockingly surprising result to the dizzy, heady crowds pictured above.

"The bottom line is the unions bought the election," said State Republican Chairman Bob Tiernan. "It's going to be a sadder day as more businesses leave the state and more don't want to come here."

True enough. Ultimately what Oregonian's said is that we do not mind taxing some of us for things that are the responsibility of all of us. It was a sad day for Oregon, and I am heartily ashamed of us.

A more perfect world

There was a fine post over at The Hyacinth Girl the other day on the ongoing push for euthanizing our elderly and unwanted. Novelist Martin Amis declared that Britain was facing a demographic time bomb as its ageing population places an impossible burden on society.

The 60-year-old novelist predicted Britain could be engulfed by a 'civil war' between the old and young if it did not tackle its ageing population.

The whole notion that our elderly place an impossible burden on society is flawed at its core. The 'burden', if you will, of our parents are to be borne by us, their children. And it is little burden and more blessing, to care for those that cared for us, and brought us into the world.

'How is society going to support this silver tsunami?There'll be a population of demented very old people, like an invasion of terrible immigrants, stinking out the restaurants and cafes and shops."

How inconvenient.

Amis, a grandfather, added: 'There should be a booth on every corner where you could get a martini and a medal.'

His whole notion is based on a utilitarian concept, that there is no value in life if it cannot produce something tangible for you to consume. This is errant at its core, sadly thankless and heartless.

He told how his support for euthanasia had deepened since the death of his stepfather, Lord Kilmarnock, last year. He said he had wanted to help the Roman Catholic peer to die because it was clear he was fighting a 'lost battle'. He thought he was going to get better. But he didn't. I think the denial of death is a great curse. We all wanted to assist him... it was clearly a lost battle.'

The man wanted to live, was fighting to live, and this relative of his wanted to assist him to the grave? That strikes me as very troubling. David Warren wrote a piece which touched on this topic a while back:

"One cannot begin to appreciate the glory and beauty and preciousness of a human life, until one has grasped how tenuous and transient it is."

I don't know why there is suffering and hardship in this world, but I believe it is wrong for us as people to decide whose lives are worth living, and whose lives are not.

Brown in tight race?

If Scott Brown is going to win the open Senate seat in Massachusetts, he will have to win by several points. Any kind of close election will go to the Democrat. These days, I just do not trust election results anymore.

Go Brown!

Update January 19, 2010

Scott Brown (R) defeated Democratic candidate Martha Coakley by a margin of 52% to 47% and is United States Senator-elect from Massachusetts, marking one of the most stunning political upsets in modern days.

Mark and Hugh

One of my weekly favorite get to's is to read through Mark Steyn's weekly appearances on the Hugh Hewitt show. It's fast passed and light hearted, and often gives me a lift.

"MS: Yeah, I think Martha Coakley, the question is whether Martha Coakley can recover to get herself a margin of victory. And she has no feeling for politics at all. She’s a classically stupid career politician. These half-wit observations that all the terrorists have gone from Afghanistan, so why do we need to be there now, this sort of insulated attitude that if you ask her a hostile question, you’re stalking her, this woman is simply too stupid. I mean, I say this in a bipartisan spirit, because I thought it about that ridiculous Republican nominee in whatever New York Congressional district that was up by the Quebec border.

HH: Scozzafava, yeah.

MS: Scozzafave, yeah. I thought the same thing there. I think this woman is simply too stupid. 100 Americans out of 300 million get to be United States Senators. Even a decrepit one-party state like Massachusetts can do better than this pathetic husk, brain dead, non-functioning husk of a politician.

What's not to love? Catch the full transcript here.

Avatar Syndrome

Well, Jimmy's new movie has got people hating themselves and wishing they could live in a computer generated image of a place that does not exist.

"A post by a user called Elequin expresses an almost obsessive relationship with the film.

"That's all I have been doing as of late, searching the Internet for more info about 'Avatar.' I guess that helps. It's so hard I can't force myself to think that it's just a movie, and to get over it, that living like the Na'vi will never happen. I think I need a rebound movie," Elequin posted."

That's serious, and in my heart of compassion I would like suggestions as to what movie would give her the biggest bounce for her rebound.

The top of my list would have to be the gritty Reservoir Dogs. The violence, the black suites, the aliases, the violence ... it all adds up to make it the perfect reality shock out of that bluish avatar world.

Alternatives anyone?